Classic Corporate Uniforms Never Go Out Of Style

While there may be a perception among some modern businesspeople that uniforms are no longer necessary or perhaps look a bit old-fashioned, a well-designed uniform with classic colors and a beautiful logo never goes out of style. Corporate wear serves a useful purpose in many industries, providing a consistent appearance to visitors and helping customers find those who can serve them. Choosing the wrong corporate uniforms, however, can make a company seem overly formal, unfriendly or even out of touch. Companies sometimes avoid uniforms to avoid upsetting employees or suppressing creativity, but well-chosen uniforms can help a company and its workers do their jobs more easily and effectively. You can use uniforms most effectively in your organization when you keep the following things in mind: Choose appropriate colors and styles for your industry. Fresh produce sellers look great in green, but it’s hardly an acceptable color for directing traffic at a funeral home. Employees at a sleek and modern women’s dress shop obviously aren’t dressed appropriately if they’re placed in khaki pants and white shirts. Pastels can create a fun and free atmosphere while navy, black and purple create upscale, regal experiences. Make employees who are meant to be seen easy to find. In some businesses, customers are expected to speak with some employees rather than others. That’s why waiters often wear stylish aprons or polo shirts with prominent logos while cleaning staff wear dark-colored clothing and smaller logos that blend into the shadows. Ensure that corporate wear is comfortable and flattering. Some people don’t like to wear shirts without collars and others think tucking in a shirt is unflattering. Still others find dry-cleaned uniform shirts too stiff to perform their jobs well. When choosing uniforms you can’t please everyone, but you can listen to employee concerns before you spend your money. Be sure uniforms are durable. Just as important as comfort is durability. Workers who must crawl on the floor several times a day will soon tear up poorly made clothing. In addition, faded or ripped uniforms look worse than employees wearing their own mismatched clothing. That means you must choose the best your company can afford and quickly replace uniforms that get damaged. Don’t be a stickler, but be a public perfectionist instead. Employees start to resent uniforms when they’re required to wear them even on days when they don’t meet the public or when working after closing time. They also resent them when they have no input into their design. Instead of being a stickler for your new uniform policy, be a public perfectionist instead. Insist that employees portray a perfect image of your company in public, but allow them a more relaxed approach when no one’s watching. All you and your employees have to do is look around your neighborhood’s shops and streets to see that well-made, stylish uniforms have never gone out of style. They’re an important way for the public to distinguish customers from workers, and they’re a great way to eliminate wardrobe envy and dress code issues as well. Corporate wear has always been a big part of big business, and it always will be. Vivien Baker writes about business image issues, including corporate uniforms and other issues related to corporate wear and clothing in the workplace. He doesn’t show his picture very often, however, because there’s no classic uniform style in his profession.